DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I in the reply filed on 10/30/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/26/2023 and 12/16/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system, as in Claim 6, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 requires “a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system”, which is unclear when interpreted in light of the specification which discloses, as in Figure 8, that the secondary side terminals (Fig. 8 66P_1,66N_1) of the first DC/DC converter (Fig. 8 60_1) and the secondary side terminals (Fig. 8 66P_2, 66N_2) of the second converter (Fig. 8 60_2) are not in parallel. For the purpose of examination, the claim language shall be interpreted as “a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected to input and output terminals of the second energy storage system”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Ye (US 2014/0375125).
With respect to claim 1, Ye discloses a power grid stabilization system comprising: a first energy storage system (Fig. 3 DC bus capacitor); and a second energy storage system (Fig. 3 Battery), wherein each of the first energy storage system and the second energy storage system includes a pair of input and output terminals (Fig. 3 terminals at Vbe and Vdc), and is configured to store DC power input through the pair of input and output terminals as energy and to output the stored energy as DC power through the pair of input and output terminals, and wherein an energy storage capacity of the second energy storage system is larger (Ye discloses the battery is the main energy storage device which has “good energy capacity” [from paragraph 94]; while the more expensive capacitor has “relatively low energy density” [paragraph 4] and is used in a supplemental role to satisfy the fast power requirements of the system) than an energy storage capacity of the first energy storage system, the power grid stabilization system further comprising: a bidirectional AC/DC converter (Fig. 3 DC/AC charges and discharges to Inf. BuS) connected between an AC power grid (paragraph 39) and the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system; and a first bidirectional DC/DC converter (Fig. 3 DC/DC charges and discharges to Battery) connected between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system and the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system.
2
With respect to claim 6, Ye discloses the power grid stabilization system according to claim 1, further comprising a second bidirectional DC/DC converter (Fig. 3 DC/DC connected to EDLC), wherein a pair of primary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of primary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel (Fig. 3 DC/DC in parallel) to the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system (Fig. 3 bus capacitor at Vdc), and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system (Fig. 3 Battery and EDLC).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ye (US 2014/0375125) in view of Benedict (US 2009/0033304).
With respect to claim 2, Ye discloses the power grid stabilization system according to claim 1 as set forth above, and remains silent as to establishing a dead zone range.
Benedict discloses a control device (Fig. 5 110) to control operations of the bidirectional AC/DC converter (Fig. 5 318) and the first bidirectional DC/DC converter (Fig. 5 102), wherein the control device causes the first bidirectional DC/DC converter to start a conversion operation when a voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system changes beyond a dead zone range (Fig. 3 Vdchigh* to Vdclow*). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to implement a control device to control operations of the bidirectional AC/DC converter and the first bidirectional DC/DC converter, wherein the control device causes the first bidirectional DC/DC converter to start a conversion operation when a voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system changes beyond a dead zone range, in order to improve the ripple and transients on the DC bus.
With respect to claim 3, Ye in view of Benedict make obvious the power grid stabilization system according to claim 2, wherein the control device causes the first bidirectional DC/DC converter to end the conversion operation when the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system matches a voltage target value (Benedict Fig. 3 energy store charged back to bus level when dashed line rises to bus voltage) within the dead zone range or returns to an operation end range within the dead zone range.
With respect to claim 4, Ye in view of Benedict make obvious the power grid stabilization system of claim 2, wherein the control device causes the first bidirectional DC/DC converter to start the conversion operation (Benedict Fig. 2 210) to transfer DC power from the first energy storage system to the second energy storage system when the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system increases beyond an upper threshold value (Fig. 2 208) defining the dead zone range, and the control device causes the first bidirectional DC/DC converter to start the conversion operation to transfer DC power from the second energy storage system to the first energy storage system when (Fig. 2 212) the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system decreases beyond a lower threshold value (Fig. 3 dashed line falls below Vdclow*) defining the dead zone range.
With respect to claim 5, Ye in view of Benedict make obvious the power grid stabilization system according to claim 4, wherein the first energy storage system (Fig. 3 bus capacitor at Vdc) includes a first positive electrode terminal and a first negative electrode terminal as the pair of input and output terminals, the second energy storage (Fig. 3 Battery) system includes a second positive electrode terminal and a second negative electrode terminal as the pair of input and output terminals, and does not fully illustrate the first bidirectional DC/DC converter in Figure 9a.
Benedict discloses wherein the first bidirectional DC/DC converter includes: a first switching element (Fig. 1 S2) connected between the first positive electrode terminal and an intermediate node; a reactor (Fig. 1 L) connected between the intermediate node (Fig. 1 Node S1-S2) and the second positive electrode terminal (Fig. 1 104-L); a second switching element (Fig. 1 S1) connected between a node commonly connected to the first negative electrode terminal and the second negative electrode terminal (Fig. 1 104-S1), and the intermediate node; and a first diode (Fig. 1 D2) and a second diode (Fig. 1 D1) connected in parallel and in a reverse bias direction to the first switching element and the second switching element, respectively, the control device (Fig. 1 110) controls the first switching element to be in a switching state of repeatedly turning on and off and controls the second switching element to be in an open state when (Fig. 1 buck operation) the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system increases beyond the upper threshold value, and the control device controls the second switching element to be in the switching state and controls the first switching element to be in the open state when (Fig. 1 boost operation) the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system decreases beyond the lower threshold value. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to implement wherein
the first bidirectional DC/DC converter includes: a first switching element connected between the first positive electrode terminal and an intermediate node; a reactor connected between the intermediate node and the second positive electrode terminal; a second switching element connected between a node commonly connected to the first negative electrode terminal and the second negative electrode terminal, and the intermediate node; and a first diode and a second diode connected in parallel and in a reverse bias direction to the first switching element and the second switching element, respectively, the control device controls the first switching element to be in a switching state of repeatedly turning on and off and controls the second switching element to be in an open state when the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system increases beyond the upper threshold value, and the control device controls the second switching element to be in the switching state and controls the first switching element to be in the open state when the voltage between the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system decreases beyond the lower threshold value, in order to provide the buck or boost operation required to regulate the dc bus.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ye (US 2014/0375125).
With respect to claim 7, Ye discloses the power grid stabilization system according to claim 1, further comprising: a second bidirectional DC/DC converter (Fig. 3 DC/DC to EDLC charges and discharges); and a third energy storage system (Fig. 3 EDLC) having a pair of input and output terminals, the third energy storage system being configured to store DC power input through the pair of input and output terminals as energy and to output the stored energy as DC power through the pair of input and output terminals, wherein an energy storage capacity of the third energy storage system is large enough to supply the fast power demand of the system, a pair of primary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of primary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel to the pair of input and output terminals of the first energy storage system (Fig. 3 in parallel at Vdc), a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter is connected to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system (Fig. 3 Battery), and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter is connected to the pair of input and output terminals of the third energy storage system (Fig. 3 EDLC). While Examiner believes Ye intends the energy storage capacity of the third power system (Fig. 3 EDLC) is higher than the energy storage capacity of the first energy storge system (Fig. 3 bus capacitor at Vdc), Ye does not explicitly state it must be so. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to implement wherein an energy storage capacity of the third energy storage system is larger than the energy storage capacity of the first energy storage system, in order to provide the energy storage capacity needed to provide the fast power response needed by the system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The use of modular multilevel converters with modular energy storage elements as in Kuhn (US 2021/0288591) or with an aggregate energy storage element as in Abdelhakim (US 2023/0006447) were known, but the prior art does not disclose the following:
With respect to claim 8, the prior art does not disclose or suggest, in combination with the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, primarily, wherein the bidirectional AC/DC converter and the first energy storage system constitute a modular multilevel converter, the modular multilevel converter includes a plurality of submodules connected in cascade between a positive DC terminal and a negative DC terminal as the pair of input and output terminals, each of the plurality of submodules including a power storage element, the power grid stabilization system further comprises a second bidirectional DC/DC converter, a pair of primary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of primary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in series between the positive DC terminal and the negative DC terminal, and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in parallel to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system.
With respect to claim 9, the prior art does not disclose or suggest, in combination with the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, primarily, wherein the bidirectional AC/DC converter and the first energy storage system constitute a modular multilevel converter, the modular multilevel converter includes a plurality of submodules connected in cascade between a positive DC terminal and a negative DC terminal as the pair of input and output terminals, each of the plurality of submodules including a power storage element, the power grid stabilization system further comprises: a second bidirectional DC/DC converter, and a third energy storage system having a pair of input and output terminals, the third energy storage system being configured to store DC power input through the pair of input and output terminals as energy and to output the stored energy as DC power through the pair of input and output terminals, an energy storage capacity of the third energy storage system is larger than the energy storage capacity of the first energy storage system, a pair of primary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter and a pair of primary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter are connected in series between the positive DC terminal and the negative DC terminal, a pair of secondary-side terminals of the first bidirectional DC/DC converter is connected to the pair of input and output terminals of the second energy storage system, and a pair of secondary-side terminals of the second bidirectional DC/DC converter is connected to the pair of input and output terminals of the third energy storage system.
The aforementioned limitations in combination with all remaining limitations of the respective claims are believed to render the aforementioned indicated claim and any dependent claims thereof patentable over the art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cao (US 2011/0084648) discloses a hybrid energy storage system. KR101034271B1 discloses plural energy storage systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY RAYMOND BEHM whose telephone number is (571)272-8929. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-5 EST.
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/HARRY R BEHM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838